Memorial services set for baseball legend Bobby Thomson

Advance file photoBobby Thomson, shown here in 2007 throwing out the first pitch at Curtis HS field, re-named "Bobby Thomson Field," passed away Monday at the age of 86.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two memorial services have been scheduled for Bobby Thomson, the beloved former Staten Island resident who socked what was arguably baseball's most famous home run -- the "Shot Heard 'Round the World."

Thomson died Monday night in his Savannah, Ga. home at the age of 86.

The first service will be held at Skidaway Island Methodist Church in Savannah at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 28.

Locally, a service will be held at Wilson Memorial Church in Watchung, N.J., on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at 1 p.m.

Arrangements are being handled by Fox and Weeks Funeral Directors, also in Savannah.

Nicknamed "The Staten Island Scot," Thomson played 15 Major League seasons, and made three National League All Star teams with the New York Giants.

Thomson was born in Glasgow, Scotland on October 25, 1923, and moved to Staten Island as a two-year-old boy. He attended Curtis High School before moving on to play for the New York Giants. He was part of the first-ever Staten Island Hall of Fame class in 1995.

The right-handed hitting outfielder and third baseman burst on the scene as a rookie in 1947, batting .283 with 29 home runs and 82 RBI.

But it was in 1951, the year he hit a career-high 32 home runs and finished 8th in the National League MVP voting, that he would carve his name in baseball lore forever.

That season, the New York Giants had come back from a 13-1/2 game deficit to tie the Brooklyn Dodgers.

After splitting the first two games of the best-of-three -- ironically Thomson's two-run home run off Ralph Branca made the difference in a 3-1 Giants win in Game 1 -- the Giants trailed 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth on Oct. 3, 1951.

With rookie Willie Mays in the on-deck circle and the Giants trailing 4-2, Thomson launched Branca's 0-1 fastball over the left-field fence at the Polo Grounds for a stunning 5-4 Giants victory.

"The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant! Bobby Thomson hits it into the lower deck of the left-field stands! The Giants win the pennant! And they're going crazy! They're going crazy! I don't believe it. I don't believe it! I do not believe it!"